manipulation

Of course I am interested in any book that would allow me to bend people to my will. (The longer I am in this profession, I realize that I really want to be a librarian dictator.) Our author defines brainwashing as substituting one belief for another. By using the power of suggestion and saying things a bit differently, you can control the people around you. Sure. Whatever.

However, the second half of the book is crazy on a whole new level. Our guy has a bunch of ideas and he is here to educate us all on the American way of life. Evidently, the poor, minorities, and women aren’t understanding how much good white men do for them. We have been brainwashed into thinking that there is a problem in how the American way of life works.

Take a look at some of the text. Poverty is a good teacher and an “honorable way of life.” Evidently, poor people and minorities are not appreciative enough of the concept of opportunity. He doesn’t stop at poverty and racism, there is also another diatribe on how women have “lost ground.” The ladies need to appreciate that the men are the ones that teach them and provide for them. Men should be the breadwinner and women keep house. Note his letter to the ladies about their greed and other failings. Even violence on the street is the fault of these mothers. (How can men respect them when they do this?)